KATHRYN VAN DER BERG
There’s a new publication on campus – an online magazine. Campus Culture publishes articles written by students that explore, criticise and promote life on campus. It promotes student affairs and the general culture of Stellenbosch. Founded by an LLB student, Deveraux Miles, the motto of Campus culture is “for students by students”, and the target market of the writings in the magazine are, obviously, aimed at university students.
“At the moment our focus is on Stellenbosch students, but our goal is to include all major universities across South Africa,” said Miles.
With this audience in mind, themes interesting to students are explored in writing. Themes such as “fitness, sex and relationships, health and wellbeing and academics” are common topic of choice, said Miles.
What makes this publication different to existing online magazines, according to Miles, is that “articles express the views of students and that's why our writers get to come up with their own topics as long as they are about students and life on campus, or be of interest to university students.”
This online publication gives students a platform to raise their voices on matters that are of critical importance to them. Miles was motivated by what he called a lack of “online space besides Instagram and Facebook where students could express themselves and be entirely free to do so.” From this observation, he set out on a pursuit to create a “place for writers and photographers to have the freedom to express different thoughts and ideas through this online platform.”
According to Miles, Instagram and Facebook aren’t the most ideal platforms for such in-depth discussions. Miles elaborated that “We are also starting a YouTube channel soon, so stay tuned for that.” A modern society calls for a visual way in which students can discuss topics that are relevant and current for them. When asked about his support, Miles made the point of expressing his gratitude to the people in his life who helped him.
“I want to say, ‘thanks’ to my friends, family and campus culture team for their help and amazing work,” he said
Photo: Supplied
